Loren Allen Bowers

Family members of a 21-year-old Bend woman who was murdered in 2004 spoke through tears Thursday as a man who admitted to killing her was sentenced to life in prison.

“Nothing that has been said or done can change the fact that our little girl will never come home again,” said the woman’s stepfather, Jim Hutchings. “She was only 21 — her life was just beginning.”

Family members joined detectives, sheriff’s deputies and friends of Nicole Marie Hutchings in the packed courtroom at the Deschutes County Courthouse for the sentencing of Loren Allen Bowers, 38, one of two men charged in the slaying. Hutchings disappeared in November 2004. In March, police found her body buried in a shallow grave near Sunriver. An autopsy determined she was beaten to death.

Bowers and Craig Allen Whiting, 27, both of Bend, were each indicted on nine counts: six counts of aggravated murder, one count of murder and two counts of kidnapping.

Bowers agreed to plead guilty Tuesday to two counts of aggravated murder and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Hutchings’ stepfather, mother and grandmother cried openly and her siblings, Amanda, 20, and Timothy, 15, clutched each other’s hands as Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Kandy Gies reviewed the facts of the case for Judge Alta Brady. Gies told the judge that Hutchings was known as a friendly, caring young woman who loved animals and hoped to one day serve in the Marine Corps.

“Loren Bowers didn’t just murder Robin and Jim’s daughter,” Gies said. “He took away Robin’s best friend, Jim’s hunting partner. He took away Amanda and Tim’s mentor, their big sister.”

For the first time, prosecutors revealed specific details about what they believe was the motive for Hutchings’ murder and how it was carried out. Gies told the judge Hutchings learned that Bowers had molested a 6-year-old girl and reported it to the girl’s mother sometime in the fall of 2004. Bowers murdered Hutchings, said Gies, to cover up that crime and avoid jail time. Bowers has denied the molestation accusation, which was included in one of the counts of the indictment to which he did not plead guilty.

“Nicole needs to be remembered for the way that she lived, for the loving, caring person that she had become in her short life,” Gies said. “It’s because of this that Nicole Hutchings was murdered. Loren Bowers killed Nicole Hutchings because he had committed an unspeakable crime, a crime that Loren Bowers did not want to be caught for.”

The plan to kill Hutchings, prosecutors said, centered around a Halloween party crafted as a ruse to lure the young woman out of her house. Bowers, they said, planned the details of the murder — even dug a grave — before Nicole had even arrived at the party. Once she arrived at the gathering, Nicole was given a drink spiked with drugs and taken into the woods, where the two men beat her repeatedly with a “tire buddy” — a short, metal-tipped club used by truckers to deflate tires, Gies said during the sentencing hearing.

Jim Hutchings, Nicole’s stepfather, read from a written statement, choking up when he mentioned Nicole’s dreams of becoming a Marine, just like him.

“We never, ever, thought that the last time we got to hold our daughter was to hold her crushed skull in our hands, seeing firsthand how you ended her life by beating her to death,” Jim Hutchings told Bowers. “This just shows how much of a coward you really are. You only feel big when you abuse little girls and beat up on them and now killed a defenseless girl half your size.”

After listening to comments from Nicole’s sister and grandmother, Bowers addressed the court and the crowd. He admitted to killing Nicole and said he was sorry, but denied the charges of child molestation that prosecutors said led to the murder. Handcuffed and dressed in a navy prison jumpsuit, Bowers cried as he read from a yellow legal pad.

“I took the time to write some statements for the family and the court because I feel they need to hear it from me personally,” Bowers said. “I want to apologize, to give my deepest regrets for the pain and suffering I caused Nicole and her family. I deserve the punishment that has been given.”

Outside the courtroom after Bowers was officially sentenced, Hutchings’ family members said they were relieved to see Bowers sent away but were still angry and grieving for Nicole.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Cathy Shaumburg, Nicole’s grandmother. “I’m sure he regrets it, but I think he really regrets that he got caught.”

Family members said they won’t have full closure until the completion of the trial of Bowers’ co-defendant, Whiting, which is scheduled to begin May 6. In the meantime, Nicole’s sister, Amanda, said she’s doing her best to remember the happy times she shared with her sister.

“I was 17 years old when she was murdered — she missed my high school graduation, my senior prom,” Amanda said. “I wish I could see her once again and tell her that I loved her, and I wish we could do half of the stuff we planned when she was still with us … the last thing she said to me was ‘I love you, I’ll see you when I get home.’ And I’m still waiting for that day to come, and I know it never will.”